


Airplanes & Bad Guys

by DarkenedHeart



Series: If We Were Twins [6]
Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, MacGyver (TV 2016)
Genre: (Possible Impossibilities), AU, Abrupt Ending, Airoplanes, Alternate Universe - TWINS!, Bad guys, CSI/Macgyver (TV 2016) Crossover, Crossover, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Gen, Grief, Hijackers, Insufficient Tags, Jack and Nick are Twins, Mentions of Lives Lost, Out of Character, Poor Mac, Science Manipulation, Surprisingly Very Little Nick...., Team Pheonix Centralized?, alternating pov, crashes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-19
Updated: 2016-12-19
Packaged: 2018-09-09 17:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,922
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8905918
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkenedHeart/pseuds/DarkenedHeart
Summary: Of all the airplanes in all of the United States...We had to get on the one taken over by terrorists...Nick is coming home from a conference, when he runs into Mac. Will wonders never cease, the two manage to switch places with another passenger so they can sit together.Then the flight is secretly taken over, with Mac being the first to notice.Why can't he ever have a normal day off?





	1. Coming & Going

"Now, you're sure you have everything? You checked your hotel room over twice before leaving? It doesn't matter if you leave your toothbrush behind, it's super gross but, you can't leave any important documents or clothes or-"

"Greg, my man, will you cut it out?" Nick laughs as he pulls his carry-on bag down the walkway towards his plan. "I don't know why you're even mothering me over the phone right now. I only wanted to tell you I was on my way back to Vegas so that you wouldn't freak out when I came home. That's all."

"I really appreciate you letting me stay at yours while you were away," the younger CSI's grin is clear even over the phone. "Grissom may find insects to be the most fascinating things in existence, but I doubt even he would want to live with them 24 hours."

"I don't know," Nick sighs dramatically. "The guy's got weird hobbies. Listen, I gotta go so that I won't miss my flight. Send my love to the others and I'll see you tonight, okay?"

"Yeah. Sure thing, Nick. Oh!" Greg shouts to keep the other man on the line and Nick has to pull his phone away so that he won't lose any more of his hearing. "I'm making you a 'welcome home' meal, so don't eat anything on your way here. Alright?"

"Sure thing, G. See ya soon."

"Bye."

Nick hangs up just as he reaches the terminal. He checks his watch and inwardly congratulates himself for being ten minutes early even though all of Michigan traffic tried to keep him away from the airport.

When the brunette looks up again, he sees a familiar head of blonde hair and he smiles. He walks straight to the familiar figure and purposely holds his breath until he's close enough to speak up a, "Hey, Mac!"

Mac's shoulders twitch, the only sign the agent was caught off guard at all. He turns around and looks confused for two seconds before his face breaks out in a large grin.

"Hey, Nick. What are you doing here?"

"Two day conference on advancing sensitivity towards affiliated parties during investigations," the CSI answers. "I got the short straw."

"Sounds...Interesting."

"You meant boring."

"Yeah, I meant boring."

"Good, because it was."

The two men laugh as a stewardess opens the doors that will lead to the aircraft.

"You heading my way?" Nick jerks his thumb towards the woman.

"It appears so," Mac raises his plane ticket so the other man can see it. "Any chance we've got seats next to each other?"

Nick checks, his smile changing to an unhappy crook of the lips when he sees they're practically opposite of each other.

"Which would you rather," the CSI starts, looking around at the other passengers as they start to gather their things. "Closer to the pilots near me, or back by the toilets near you?"

"Toilets."

The answer earns an eyebrow raise from Nick.

"There are less eyes on you in the back, especially if you want to step away to make a call, plus," Mac shrugs. "I find the flushing soothing and it some times puts me to sleep."

"Toilets it is," the brunette taps their tickets together before walking towards the stewardess.

\- -

On the plane, Nick goes to the back and asks the person with the seat next to Mac if they'd be willing to change seats with him. The passenger, a nervous looking, little old man, glances over the other passengers as he clutches tightly to a briefcase hidden under his trench coat while he thinks it over. Eventually, he nods his assent and the two change tickets.

 

The plane takes off.

 

Nick pops a piece of gum in his mouth and offers one to Mac. The blonde declines with a grateful smile and the CSI puts the pack back in his pocket.

"So..." Nick drawls as he turns to look at his airplane buddy. "What were you doing in the grand ole state of Michigan? Or is that a non-discussible topic?"

"No, it's fine," Mac tells him truthfully. "I was visiting a friend on my day off. I don't get to do it too often and Jack insisted, so here I am."

"My brother can be a real pain if he thinks someone needs something," Nick huffs a laugh, slouching more in his chair in an attempt to get comfortable. "Not sure if I'll be able to sleep this time around. Got too much caffeine in my system."

"How many cups of coffee have you had today?"

"Huh....Let's see...." Nick squints his eyes in concentration before saying in an unsure voice, "Seven?"

"Seven?" Mac repeats without attempting to hide any of his shock. "It's only nine in the morning, how have you already taken in seven cups of coffee?"

"Well, my room had this little coffee machine with a timer on it, ya see, and I set it to go off ten minutes before my alarm so that the smell would entice me out of bed. I ended up with two crappy cups, let's be honest, hotel coffee isn't the greatest thing ever but it does the job. Then downstairs, there was a tiny bistro that made this unbelievable brew, so I took it upon myself to enjoy three of those to get the previous crappy two out of my system."

Mac waits a beat to for the other man to continue but when the brunette falls silent he prods him, "That's only five, Nick. Where did the other two come from?"

"The other-Oh, right," Nick snaps his fingers. "Got them while I was busy being lost in Michigan. I tell you, Mac, this place had it out for me. Didn't want me to leave."

Mac shakes his head in amazement as his friend merrily chews on his gum without any notice to how his leg was bouncing like a toddler's at his side.

"You didn't happen to take in all that coffee in a twisted attempt to calm your nerves before a flight, did you?" the blonde asks with a light, accusing air.

Nick's retort is cut off by the intercom crackling to life.

"Ladies and gentlemen," a frightened woman's voice comes on over the speakers. "We will be taking a detour to get some fuel in a few minutes. Please remain in your seats and do not be alarmed by this change. Thank you."

Nick stops chewing as he leans closer to Mac to whisper, "Is it just me, or do the words 'do not get alarmed' give you reason to be alarmed?"

Mac nods but doesn't answer, his eyes already scanning the plane for a disturbance or hostility. There was a minor, a very minor, chance that the ground crew forgot to fill the plane or that the tanker they used was empty. But that wouldn't account for the woman's scared tone. It wouldn't explain why the stewardesses were hiding out in the front with the pilots, either.

When the agent sees a gun poke out from behind the curtains, he tenses in his seat with reality.

The plane had been hijacked.

 

"I have to make a call," Mac tells Nick as he eyes the curtains hiding the gunmen he knew were there. "Can you promise me something, and stay here?"

"Uh, sure?" the CSI frowns at the other man as he gets to his feet. "Where did you think I was going to go some-thousand miles up in the air?"

"I'll be right back," the agent says as a non-answer, then sneaks off to the bathroom to call Jack.

"Mac!" the older agents greets happily when he answers the phone. "Let me guess, you miss me already and couldn't wait for your plane to land to talk to me."

"My plane's been hijacked, Jack," Mac informs his teammate. 

Jack curses, then shouts, "RILEY!"

"Are you back at headquarters?" the blonde agent asks.

"Yeah, Ri and I were going over some basic weapons training while you were away. How on earth did you pick a plane with gunmen on it, Mac?"

"I didn't do it on purpose, believe me," Mac sighs. He runs a hand through his hair before nervously adding, "Uh, Jack, there's something else you should know."

"You've been found out and now you're hiding in the storage area?" Jack guesses.

"No," the blonde grimaces. "Nick's on the plane with me. We had the same flight."

Mac can feel the tension through the phone, his imagination already playing out how his teammate was reacting to the news even through the silence.

"Are you two okay? Have they taken the plane over yet? How many of them are there? What kind of weapons are we talking here, Mac?"

The questions are rapid-fire, leaving Mac to memorize them in order to answer when his teammate finally stops to let him.

"We're fine," the blonde starts, putting a little more emphasis on the words to ease his friend's worry. "The hijackers are hiding out in the front, for now. I think I'm the only one who even knows they're here. I saw a weapon peak out through the curtains after the stewardess nervously informed us that our flight path was being changed."

"What was that about a flight path change?" Riley's voice comes through the phone next. She hushes Jack's protests before Mac can even hear them. "I've got your plane's path on my laptop right now, Mac. You're still going in the right direction."

"Maybe they're waiting until the last minute to make the detour," Mac suggests. "All I know is the stewardess stated we'd be making a detour."

There's a knock on the door next.

"Anybody in here?" a woman's muffled voice asks.

"I'll be right out," Mac calls to her, using his foot to flush the toilet. He runs the water as he asks, "Riley, is there any way you can hack into the plane's auto pilot? Prevent them from changing course? Or at least keep track of where we're going to land?"

"If it's possible, I can do it," the hacker states. "Here, I've got work to do."

"You still didn't tell me about numbers or fire power, Mac," Jack's voice comes back over the line as the blonde exits the bathroom. The woman waiting on the other side thanks the agent as she moves around him to get in.

Mac carefully checks the front. He can't see the weapon anymore, but the stewardesses are still hiding in the front, so he assumes the mystery hijacker is still there. At least the passengers seem unaware of the danger they were in. Chaos in a contained space with no way out would be a nightmare.

"Mac!" Jack snaps. "What is going on? Are you still there?"

"Sorry, Jack," the blonde doesn't take offense to his friend's tone. The man's brother was on a plane with an unknown amount of armed men. That would stress even the most iron willed person. "I only know for certain that there is one person. I only saw part of the weapon, but I think it was a semi-automatic assault rifle."

"That means lots of bullets really fast, Mac," the other agent warns his teammate. "You've got to make sure no one tries to play hero up there. Who knows how much damage a stray bullet can cause."

"I know a few ways things can go wrong," Mac tells the other man without any pride for knowing the information. "I'll do what I can, but I still don't know how many I'm dealing with. If I can figure out that, I might be able to take them down and end this without anyone being the wiser."

"Mac, I-" Jack huffs a breath before continuing. "I trust you, man. Really, I do. But I just want you to remember that you're all alone up there. Nick might be a brave guy, but he's used to working at crime scenes after all the bad stuff has ended. He's been in a rough scrape here and there, but he's not me. He's not a trained agent."

In other words, 'Keep my brother safe'.

"I won't let anything happen to Nick," Mac assures his friend. "We're going to get through this, Jack. I know it. The how is just lost to me right now."

"You better hang up before people get too suspicious," Jack says reluctantly. "I'll bring Patty in on this and text you if Riley needs you to do anything on your end."

"Thanks, Jack."

"Be careful, Mac. Nick isn't the only family I'm worried about."

Mac smiles as warmth blooms in his chest.

"You got it, Jack."

 

The blonde agent returns to his seat just as the intercom comes alive again.

"Due to interference with pilot controls, we ask that all passengers turn off their cellular devices," the stewardess's voice from before returns, a little stronger, but still shaky in fear. "We apologize for the inconvenience and will inform you when phones may be turned back on for use."

"I think there's something seriously wrong with her," Nick frowns as he gets up. "I think I'll go see if she's okay."

"Can't let you do that, Nick," Mac pushes the man back into his chair. "You're staying right here for now. Got it?"

"What gives, Mac?" the CSI stares at the agent in confusion. "You got a crush on her or something? I'm not going to hit on her, I'm just going to see if she's doing okay."

The blonde agent shakes his head as he realizes his traveling companion was still in the dark about what was going on. Jack was right, a trained agent his brother was not.

"Okay, listen," Mac gets into his seat to lean close and whisper to the other man. "This plane has been taken over. I don't know who, how many, or why, but I know I saw a gun earlier and that stewardess is acting far too scared for even the most paranoid first-flight shift in the sky."

Nick's eyes grow large before his expression schools to something more serious.

"What's the plan?"

"I'm going to go up there and see if I can figure out how many there are. You," the agent points to the CSI. "Are going to stay here, where it's safe."

"You talked to my brother already. Is that why you were gone for so long?"

"Even if I hadn't talked to Jack, I wouldn't put your life needlessly in danger."

"I'm a big boy. I've been in shootouts more than once and had a gun in my face more times than I care to remember."

"All the more reason to keep you out of this if I can. Listen," Mac puts up a hand when it looks like the brunette is going to argue some more. "If we both go up there, it will only cause suspicion. I need you to act normal so that no one else will get suspicious. Can you do that for me?"

Nick huffs out a defeated breath as he nods.

"Good," the agent nods to him as he gets up. "I'll be right back."

 

Mac changes his phone to its camera and sets it to record as he slowly approaches the front of the plane. As he makes it to the curtain, he pretends to be bumped by another passenger. Saying a mumbled apology, he pokes his phone into the room and turns it without looking around the space before going back to his seat.

Once seated by Nick again, the agent goes over his video.

There are two men holding guns on the two stewardesses. The camera didn't get a clear look at both of their faces, but it was enough for Mac to know their general build. They're clearly trained, but why they would take over a plane was still a mystery. Was it a terrorist attack? Was the plane going to be diverted to a building like on 9/11? The likelihood of at least one more man covering the pilots in the cock pit was a near certainty as well, so the blonde agent assumes he has three enemies he has to take down and quickly. Before-

"Hey!" a man in a business suit shouts out as he gets to his feet. "You said we'd be able to use our phones again. Is that going to be any time soon?"

The curtains move for several moments before a shaking woman with a forced smile steps just outside of them.

"I'm sorry, sir," the stewardess looks straight ahead, instead of at the passenger. "We're still having difficulties. Please be patient."

"I'd be more inclined to patience if you weren't already diverting me to somewhere else," the man gripes. getting back into his seat.

The shaking stewardess nods her head, then steps backwards to stand behind the curtain again.

Nick grabs Mac's arm, and the agents looks over to the CSI.

"Do you smell that?" the brunette asks with a low voice and alarmed eyes.

Mac takes a deep breath and frowns.

"Ether?"

Nick nods. "I'd know that smell anywhere. Whoever's trying to take over this plane doesn't know what they're doing. Filling this room with that gas won't guarantee that everyone will pass out. It's dangerous."

Mac nods, knowing the other man was right. Diethyl ether is extremely flammable. To the point that it can be ignited by the static electricity which can build up when ether is being poured from one vessel into another. Not to mention the affects it has on the human body when exposed to too much too soon. If nothing else, he had to prevent people from inhaling it. Looking up, Mac sees the solution.

"Do you have a pen?" the agent asks the man at his side, hand out as his eyes rove over the emergency oxygen system.

"Here," Nick places the men in the man's hand. "What are you thinking?"

"If I can get one of these masks down, the rest automatically activate," Mac explains, looking for a weak spot. "Then the passengers will have at least fifteen minutes of clean air while I figure out a way to stop the gas."

"What if the dropping of the masks sets the ether off?"

"The concentration should still be low at the moment..." Mac finds the right spot and the mask falls free. Just as he said, the rest fall loose and the passengers shout out in surprise and fear as the masks appear in front of their faces.

"Better put theses masks on!" Nick calls out as he moves to do just that. The rest of the passengers follow the brunette's lead.

"What's going on?" a woman nearly screams from her seat.

The man in the suit from earlier stands up again.

"I'm going to talk to the stewardesses!" he announces.

"Wait!" Mac tries to stop him, but it's too late. The man makes it to the curtain, and is greeted by a masked man with a gun.

"Back in your seat!" the gunman shouts out over the bulkier version of his oxygen mask. The man in the suit quickly follows orders, putting the yellow cup of his own mask over his face before even sitting down.

Several people duck their heads while even more make noises of fear and surprise. Mac's heartrate picks up with the added adrenaline as he tries to think of a way out of the new development while holding a mask over his face. He feels his phone vibrate with an incoming text and looks down at his it secretly to see that Riley says she has control of the aircraft and is sending it towards the nearest air strip.

Relief mixes with the high level of worry Mac is fighting with. He glances around to the passengers and is glad to see they're all appear to be wearing their masks. If he can just find the place where the gas is coming from, he can stop it and maybe-

Mac blinks away his train of thought as the gunman approaches him. He pockets his phone discreetly as the man stops at his aisle.

"You," the man pulls out another mask like the one on his face and tosses it to Nick. "Put that on and come with me."

Nick looks at the mask, glances at Mac, then look up at the gunman.

"Why?" he asks, even as he starts to switch the masks.

"Because I said so!" the man shouts, pointing his gun at the brunette. A woman screams and Nick raises his hands.

"Alright!" the brunette say quickly. He fastens the mask to his face, then moves his hands away so the gunman can see. 

"Hurry up and get out here!" the man shouts again, jerking his gun so the brunette would follow suit faster. Nick gets up slowly and slides out of the aisle. He looks to Mac as he passes him, searching his eyes for what to do. The agent has nothing that wouldn't put someone's life in danger, so he's forced to shake his head minutely and watch as his friend is dragged away by one of the hijackers.

Nick is taken to the front of the plane and pushed through the curtains, out of sight to everyone. Mac is up the second they're gone, mind buzzing with ideas. But as soon as he pulls the mask away, his head spins and he's forced back down.

The ether was building up and he HAD to stop it.

The curtains move and Nick is pushed back into the room, a parachute strapped to him. The brunette locks eyes with Mac and shakes his head, confusing the blonde. Three masked gunmen, all wearing parachutes, follow the CSI and one of them approaches the door while a second steps in front of all the passengers.

"I hope you all enjoy your flight!" the man shouts through his mask. "It's about to get very interesting!"

The side door is opened, making everyone scream as the cabin pressure instantly changes and wind billows through the space. The hijackers jump from the plane, taking Nick with them. 

Mac rips his mask off his face and struggles to the front of the plan as quickly as he can. 

Contrary to what movies want you to believe, it's impossible to open a door while the plane is in flight. At least, it's supposed to me. Mac tries to work out how the hijackers did it as he reaches the curtains that were hiding all the action. The stewardesses are dead on the ground, a single gun shot wound ot the head. The agent forces himself to step over them to get to the cockpit. The pilots are dead in the same manner as the women and Mac pulls out his phone to call Riley as he looks over the controls.

"Mac! Why is there a sudden loss in pressure? And why are you dropping feet by the thousands?" Riley's voice comes over loud and near hysterics. 

"The hijackers opened a door they should not have been able to open!" Mac shouts back over the roar of the air and the alarmed beeping of the control board. "I need to know how to land this thing with it open, or else we're all going to die!"

"But I-" the hacker cuts herself off with a curse. "Stupid! I'm so stupid! Mac, do you see an open computer in the cockpit?"

The blonde agent looks around and quickly finds a laptop sitting on the dead co-pilot's lap, some sort of flight program playing on the screen.

"Yes, why? What's going on?"

"They created a separate control system, mirroring the plane's, and sent my hack to it without me even realizing!" Riley curses again. "Unplug it for me, will you? It'll be faster than me overriding the program."

Mac pulls out any and all wires connected to the laptop.

"Done."

"Okay..." 

Some of the beeping stops and the plane shakes, forcing Mac to hold onto the back of the pilot's seat as he watches clouds pass by him too quickly.

"Riley...?" Mac says wearily as the ground starts to come into view. "What's going on?"

"Just a minute..." the hacker says, then there's a noise of small triumph as the plane's speed decreases and it starts to level off slightly. "Good news or bad?"

"Are you going to crash land this thing?" Mac assumes, finding the spare seat behind the pilots and taking it.

"Yes, and it won't be pretty, but I've got Jack here to help me and I think I can do it without blowing you all up."

"Well, that's encouraging. Was that the bad news?"

"Uh, well," Riley clears her throat. "Sort of, but I'm also adding the fact that I'm not going to be able to do this on a strip and that the land mass I found is barely long enough for a legitimate air strip."

"So what's the good news?"

"I know how they opened the door?"

"That doesn't count as good news! It's just informative!" Jack shouts over the line.

"I'm going to have to agree with Jack on that one," Mac sighs, closing his eyes tight as he waits for impact.

 

Saying 'it was a rough landing' is like stating the Titanic 'had an accident'. The plane lands in one piece, then explodes in half, sending the two parts into separate spinning ends. 

Several lives are lost.

 

\---


	2. Jack's POV

Jack looks over the wreckage, stock still and frozen. Riley is shouting at him at his side. He can hear her, but the words are lost in the muffled buzz of his head. 

Dead. 

Mac and Nick were dead. No one could have survived that kind of crash. 

Jack can't move. He can't breathe. He barely feels himself blink as he stares at the video displaying the downed aircraft.

"JACK!" Riley's face comes into the brunette's vision and he blinks as he stumbles backwards. Belatedly, he realizes his teammate has pushed him and his anger flares as he looks at the young hacker.

"Riley?" he wants to shout, but it comes out as a soft question instead.

"There are life signs!" the young woman turns the open laptop in her arms around to show the older man the screen. "We have to get out there NOW and see who survived! We have to figure out what happened! Can you do that?"

'Life signs? That means survivors! And if anyone can survive anything, it's Mac.'

Jack nods, following Riley out of Phoenix headquarters to take the fastest transport to the crash sight.

\- -

Thornton joins the two agents at the sight, having been in conference somewhere else during the hijacking. She nods to them as they approach the man in charge of the search and rescue still going on around them.

Jack stumbles over something as he tries to follow the two women into a tent where the man in charge was shouting at people. He can see firemen and other people in special suits pulling at wreckage, while others in machines try to pull away the larger metal pieces to help. There are so many people, so much going on, Jack can hardly decide where to look as his heart refuses to allow his lungs to take in enough air.

"Special Agent Thornton," Thornton shows her credentials to a man with a walkie-talkie in each hand and an additional one on his hip. "Do you have a head count of survivors yet?"

"Are you kidding me?" the man growls at her. The walkie in his left hand crackles and he turns to it to shout, "Be careful with that nose! It's still flaming! I don't want anything combusting on top of everything else!"

"There's someone in there!" the person on the other line crackles back. "If we don't get him out soon, they'll suffocate!"

"Then get some hand extinguishes on it and a few crowbars!" the man in charge shouts back. He looks back at the agents. "Listen, I know I've been here longer than you, but that doesn't mean I have any answers for you."

"I understand," Thornton nods her head. "Would it be alright for us to look around while you and your people work?"

"I don't care what you do," the man growls, pointing a finger in the woman's face. "Just don't get in the way."

The other walkie crackles to life and the man walks away to shout into it, leaving the three agents to their own devices.

Jack's eyes trail over to where the front of the plane was resting. Part of it was still on fire and there were three men trying to force a bend metal piece out of the way to get at it. Something tugs inside the brunette and he starts running. In the back of his mind, he may have heard Riley or Patty shouting at him, but he keeps running. The men have the piece out of the way, one of them stepping back to shoot at the flames with an extinguisher as the other two reach in for whoever's inside.

Two firemen drag out a battered blonde and Jack stops, chest heaving so close to a man he would know anywhere.

"Mac," Jack whispers as his partner is pulled the rest of the way out of the wreckage and closer to him. The firemen ignore the agent as they lay the victim on the ground. One of them checks the blonde over while the other flags down a roaming paramedic.

"He's breathing!" the fireman by Mac's side shouts out to the paramedic as she approaches. "Looks like a blow to the head knocked him out." He looks up and locks eyes with Jack. "Can you help carry him so I can get back to the others?"

Jack nods to the fireman and he takes off with the other two to head to another part of the plane. The brunette's eyes turn back to his partner as the paramedic checks him over. 

 

The world blurs...Jack remembers carrying Mac to an ambulance. He remembers standing beside Riley as most of the remaining survivors are found; dead or alive. There's a part where he may/or may not have said something about his brother and Riley had answered him back something he didn't like. 

Then he's being pushed inside a car by familiar hands and brought to the hospital. He moves to head to the morgue, but the hands guide him to Mac's room instead. The blonde agent has a room to himself and Jack gets to sit in the chair by his side.

He knows he's acting irrationally. He knows he's a better agent, a better man than this, has been through worse situations and gotten through them...

But somehow he can't find the strength to get out of a chair as he stares at his friend that was lying unconscious in a hospital bed.

 

\---


	3. An Ending

Mac wakes up in a hospital, knowing he failed even before resting his eyes on an anxious looking Jack.

"Nurse!" Jack shouts as he stands in his chair, only to sit down again. "He's awake!" the brunette adds as he continues to stare at the man in the bed.

Mac opens his mouth to speak, but his throat is so mysteriously raw that his voice fails him. With a frown, he pushes himself up straighter and winces as it hurts all of his sore body.

"Take it easy, Mac," Jack's voice is wet and he clears his throat before continuing. "It's a miracle you survived, buddy. And with mostly bruises to show for it. You must have.." he clears his throat again. "Must have a guardian angel or somethin'."

The brunette looks away and Mac realizes a reason for the pain he sees in those eyes, just as a nurse steps into the room.

"Hello, Mr. MacGyver," the woman says pleasantly. "I'm just going to check you over real quick, okay? Now, can you tell me what year it is?"

Mac regrets his rudeness as he ignores the woman to rasp out to Jack, "Nick's alive."

Something cracks as Jack's head snaps up to stare at the younger man in shocked disbelief.

The blonde swallows as best he can before forcing out, "The hijackers took him. Parachutes. Don't know why."

Mac puts a hand to his throat as he stops. He'll need something for the pain and about two bottles of water before he can speak again.

"I'm going to take that as a sign of your lucidity," the nurse comments as she goes through the actions of checking her patient over. She pours her patient a cup of water, making sure he has them in two steady hands before placing one of her own on his shoulder. "I'm going to speak with the doctor so that you can get some relief for your throat."

The nurse leaves and Jack wipes at his eyes as he stands.

"I'm going to check with Riley," the brunette states. "Make sure she knows you're awake."

He strides to the door in three steps, but pauses at it to look back at his partner.

"Thanks, Mac."

Jack escapes before the blonde can say anything back.

Mac looks down at his hands for something to glare at as he feels a heavy weight of regret on his shoulders. He didn't do anything deserving of thanks. He failed all those people, and his partner's brother. Nick was in the hands of mysterious kidnappers and Mac had done nothing to stop it from happening. The plane crashed and he had no idea how many lives were lost. He was smarter than this! How many times had he pulled a plan from the recesses of his him and saved everyone? Where was that engenuity? Where was the brain Jack hailed and bragged at people about? 

Mac's hands clench into tight fists, the pain a good distraction from the building self-hatred he had for himself. Redemption was a foreign word to him, but he vowed to get Nick back. For Jack's sake more than his own. His partner deserved more.

\- -

Riley, Thornton, and Jack stand at the foot of Mac's hospital bed as they go over what they know about the crash. The doctor has already been in and out of the room, declaring his patient fit to leave after a few hours of observation.

"There are still a few people unaccounted for," the hacker is saying. "They could have missed their flight and it wasn't recorded, or they were sucked out when the door malfunctioned and opened."

"Malfunctioned?" Mac interrupts her.

"Normally, you cannot open the doors or emergency hatches of an airplane in flight; for the simple reason that cabin pressure won't allow it," Riley explains for the group as Mac nods in acknowledgment of the information. "But, from what I got off the plane's Black Box, they figured out a way to change the cabin pressure, lowered the landing gear, and tricked the plane into thinking it was being taxied around instead of flying several hundred thousand feet in the sky."

"It still must have taken a hidden measure within the door to open it," Mac muses aloud at no one in particular.

"Let's ignore how the bad guys got off the plan and focus on who they are and why they'd take a CSI from Nevada," Jack speaks up as if he were in charge.

"Does Nick have any enemies who would have the resources for this type of abduction?" Thornton asks her agent.

"None that I can think of..." Jack frowns as he mumbles, "Unless..." 

"Yes, Mr. Mumbles?" Riley prods.

"Unless they're after revenge on our parents?" the brunette looks to his team. "Or after me?"

"You think they thought it was you flying with an alias?" Mac repeats. "If that's the case, who would have it out for you?"

Jack huffs a depreciative laugh.

"I'm not looking forward to making that list, buddy."

"Too bad," Thornton points out the obvious. "Get to work on that while Riley and I double check the passenger manifest to see if anyone else might be connected."

"What about me?" Mac asks, feeling more than well enough to get out of bed and to work.

"You stay there until the doctor thinks you're fit to leave," Thornton orders, then walks out of the room.

Riley pushes Jack into his designated chair and puts a laptop in his hands before following their team leader out of the room.

The brunette grimaces slightly as he starts to type on the device to pull up his old cases from all his past missions, including the ones before the DXS.  
Mac sits in silence for a few minutes while his partner types away, watching as the other man's frown grows more painful looking by the second as he practically glares at the device he's working on. 

The blonde agent can sense the blame his friend is directing at himself. Someone who didn't know Jack as well as he did would be able to feel it as the man let out a soft curse every other typed word as he smacked the keys far too hard than he needed to.

"Jack," Mac starts quietly. His partner doesn't hear him, so he raises his voice a little to repeat. "Jack."

The brunette looks up in surprise at the other agent.

"Yeah, Mac? Something wrong?"

"A lot more than something," Mac sighs. "Listen...I just...I wanted to apologize."

Anger switches to confusion as Jack continues to stare at his partner.

"What are you talking about, man? None of this is your fault. If anything, it's probably mine. My stupid face got Nicky into trouble. Mom's going to kill me."

As much as Mac wants to laugh at his friend's attempt at humor, he can't find the strength through his overwhelming guilt.

"No, Jack, this is my fault," the younger man corrects. "I was there. I was on that plane. And I did nothing to stop those men from taking Nick or crashing the plane. I didn't even try. I just let them do what they wanted and now people are dead and your brother is missing."

"So, you sat back and twiddled your thumbs?" Jack voice reeks of disbelief as he raises an eyebrow to the other man. "You handed my brother over and helped push him out the door?"

"No, but Jack-"

"You stayed silent and ate peanuts while the bad guys waved their guns around and took over the place?"

"That's not what I-"

"I bet you gave them some pointers and suggested better ideas for future kidnappings, right?"

"Will you stop cutting me off?" Mac snaps. "It's useless to point out things you know I didn't do! But it's also part of my point, Jack! I. DID. NOTHING!"

"You survived!" Jack snaps back, slamming the laptop closed as he does. "You called us the second you noticed something off! Without Riley's help, who knows what would have happened to that plane? Maybe NO ONE would have survived? Did you think of that?" 

The older agent is up and on his feet now, the laptop tossed onto the bed as he crowds his friend. "You could have died with every single last person on that death trap but you didn't-" 

Jack chokes on the word and he swallows thickly as Mac stares up at him in stunned silence. 

"Do you-?" Jack's voice falters and he closes his eyes to focus on making words, the sound a soft whisper of a breaking heart. "Do you have any idea what that would have done to me?"

With inner strength he barely had, Jack opens his eyes again. Mac's face swims in his vision as he feels tears drip down his cheeks. "Losing you both would have wrecked me, Mac. I would've died on that plane too."

Mac reaches out and takes Jack by the arm, his hand at the other man's elbow as he stares up with determination at his friend.

"We're going to get Nick back," the blonde voices the repeat of his vow. "Then we're going to throw the people responsible for this into jail and throw away the key."

Jack nods, his free hand furiously wiping at his eyes so he can see better.

"If I don't shoot them all first."

\- -

Jack isn't even back in his chair when Riley storms back into the room, Thornton right behind her as the younger woman looks to the men in pent up excitement.

"I think I know who took Nick and why!"

"That's fantastic, Riley," Mac compliments the woman as Jack order her to, "Spill!"

"The Houdini Brothers," Thornton explains instead. "They're an infamous criminal group made up entirely of siblings that specialize in getting high level targets to their high paying customers."

"What do hyped-up bounty hunters want with a CSI?" Jack's brow furrows. "He isn't on any important cases at the moment. Is this about me after all?"

"It's not about either of you," Riley grins. "They didn't want Nick Stokes, they wanted Irgov Spetler."

"I'm lost," the brunette shakes his head.

"Professor Irgov Spetler was assigned to the seat Nick was sitting in," Thornton speaks up to explain again. "Riley found the contract for the 'acquisition' of the professor on the Dark Net."

"So, it is a case of mistaken identity, but the character titles have changed," Mac clarifies, getting two separate nods as an answer. "What do they want with Professor Spetler? Did he survive the crash?"

"We just checked and he did," Riley's grin grows a little. "He's still unconscious after a surgery to get several pieces of shrapnel from his body, but the doctors are optimistic about his recovery."

"It was rumored that Spectler invented a new tracking method that used a subject's own voice to track them world wide," Thornton adds to the information. "His briefcase was discovered in the crash and is now in Phoenix custody."

"It's amazing what can survive such a horrible crash," Jack mumbles as she shakes his head. He look to the two women. "Any idea where these wanna-be magicians were supposed to meet up with the people who paid them?"

Riley's frown vanishes, "That's where I come up empty."

"The Dark Net is highly sophisticated in its ability to shield its members and those who interact on it. Tracing the people who posted the job is also impossible," Thornton says with regret in her voice. "Riley hacked all the satellites that were in range when they parachuted, but once they hit the tree line, they were lost. We'll have to find another way to track them."

"Maybe we should try contacting them through the Dark Net?" Mac suggests. "Set up a meet? Set a trap?"

Riley shakes her head. "They always take a break between jobs. They won't return for another month."

Jack lets out a curse as he walks away from his teammates to glare out the only window in the room.

Silence looms in the room as the agents try to figure out a solution. 

Then, Mac speaks up.

"How close was Spetler to finishing his tracking method?"

\- -

Irgov Spetler is barely conscious five minutes when four agents of the United States government are at his bedside, asking about his invention.

"What we're basically asking here," Jack speaks up the loudest, taking over the interrogation before it can really get started. "Is if you can track a guy with your invention or not?"

"Iz not an invention," the professor corrects. "I mally uze da programme wit da seatalites to reckard de voices around da varld and den match it wit de sample."

"Sample?" Mac repeats. "Can you use a recording of someone's voice with your program?"

"No," Spetler shakes his head. "It must be a live sampule. De programme haz it own vay of manipulating ze humane voice to filtar out change in timbare."

"What about a twin?" Riley pipes up. "They share enough similarities. How about voices?"

The professor puts a finger to his chin as he thinks about the question.

"It still in de beginning stages," the man explains after a moment. "I sink it vill verk, but no way to tell witout a test."

"Good," Jack nods his head, pulling out the man's briefcase out of Thornton's hand to place it on the professor's lap. "Tell us what you need and we'll get it. I'll supply the sample. You track my brother."

\- -

It's slow going with a half lucid professor on pain medication. Thornton keeps the hospital staff at bay and Mac keeps Jack from biting the Spetler's head off whenever he messes up. Riley does most of the leg work, supplying her own commentary and suggestions on the older man's work to keep him focused as she puts the entire thing together almsot by herself.

"Now," Spetler lifts his microphone with a shaking arm to Jack. "De sample."

"What do I say?" Jack asks.

"Dat is fine. Sank you," the professor lowers the microphone and pushes a few buttons before relaxing into his pillow and closing his eyes.

"Woah!" the brunette agent nudges him. "No sleeping, Proff. You can't zone out till you get me a location."

"De programe vill vork witout me," Spetler states, eyes still closed. "At least an 'ower, I sink. Sleep is good for da mind."

Mac pulls his friend away before he can nudge the older man a second time. He directs him to the open window for a breathe of fresh air.

"How are you holding up?" the blonde asks quietly as he watches the other agent glare into space.

"I keep envisioning all the ways to punch a guy to keep me calm," Jack jokes with a small smirk. He softens his eyes as he looks to his friend. "How about you? Still blaming yourself?"

Mac sighs as he runs a hand through his hair. He had been allowed to use the hospital staff's showers and Thornton brought him a clean set of clothes. It helped refresh his still slightly cloudy head, but the guilt and regret was still resting on his shoulders as a constant weight.

Jack puts a hand on the blonde's shoulder. The added weight somehow makes the burden lighter.

"You got nothing to be sorry about, kid," the brunette states simply. "Just get that through your head so I can have you at one hundred percent, you got it?"

"I'm just having a hard time not feeling useless when I'm literally standing around: useless," Mac states, looking over to the sleeping professor. Riley is watching over the computer screens that are running the program, Thornton just outside the room, having yet another quiet argument with a doctor.

"Oh!" Riley jumps out of her chair, pointing at the computer before using the same hand to nudge the professor. "It worked! Spetler! Jack! Everyone! Just-Look!"

Spetler opens his eyes with a groan, then squints at the screen as his eyes focus. Jack and Mac stand side-by-side next to the man as a location types out in a box on the bottom of the screen, a map with a glowing dot displayed above it.

"Zere you go," the professor laughs, all signs of sleep gone from his face and voice. "I am a genius!"

Jack takes a picture of the screen then runs for the door, Mac right behind him. As they pass Thornton, the woman tries to reach out for them but misses by a mile.

"Where are you going?" she shouts after her agents.

"Be right back, Patty!" Jack answers over his shoulder as he puts out a hand to stop an elevator door. "Just gotta get my little brother from the babysitters. Won't take a minute."

Riley stands beside the other woman as a doctor uses the distraction to get at his patient. 

"You think any of the kidnappers will still be alive later today?" the hacker asks only loud enough for her teammate to hear.

"Whoever does will be tossed into jail," Thornton remarks without a care as she turns to go into the hospital room with her new asset.

\- -

At the airport, Riley smacks the two men as she pushes passed them to get in first.

"Thanks for waiting for me," the hacker remarks with bite as she takes her seat.

"Sorry, Ri," Jack ducks his head as he sits next.

"We weren't really thinking," Mac adds as he sits last. 

The agents are in a small, private jet. The copilot closes the door as the agents buckle and then goes straight for the cockpit as the aircraft begins to move to the end of the runway for take off.

"Either of you feel a little..." Riley shrugs as she closes the shield for her window. "Odd? Taking a plane after being at a sight of another's crash?"

"That plane didn't crash on its own," Mac points out to assure his teammate. "We've been on plenty of flights without incident. Human interference causes more problems than the aircraft itself."

"This jet ain't allowed to have problems," Jack adds as he crosses his arms over his chest. "So, enjoy the flight, Riley. When we land, we've got bad guys to beat on."

\- -

The bad guys forgo the classic abandoned warehouse and use a heavily guarded estate instead. Deja vous briefly washes over Mac as they approach the outer gates, but he pushes it out of his mind as he follows his partner over the wall.

Jack takes the lead, shooting anything that gets in his way with tranquilizer darts when he isn't bashing them in the head with the butt of his gun. Mac has three extra clips of darts on his person alone, just in case, and Riley has a smaller version of the weapon to cover their backs as they go through the back yard and straight into the house. 

After a brief search, where Jack takes down a half a dozen more men and Riley gets to knock out her one and only bad guy, they step into the living room where they find Nick. The man is bound to a chair with ropes around his chest. He's slouching in it, his head lolling from side to side. 

A man in a white suit scowls at the intruders and orders the two men at his side to shoot at the agents. Jack downs the muscle in two quick shots, then he lets the weapon drop with its strap to pull out a small knife that he tosses at the man in the suit. It hits the man in the shoulder and he shouts out as he falls to his knees, staring at the blood that starts to stain the white material.

Jack ignores the screaming man as he strides over to his brother.

"Nick?" the brunette addresses his twin, grabbing either side of the man's head to get it to stop moving.

"Ja~ack," Nick sing-songs with a loopy smile. "Wazzup?"

 

Thornton has back-up at the place two minutes later, cleaning up the stragglers and taking people into custody. Jack has his twin cut free by then, but the man is too wobbly to remain standing when his brother lifts him upright.

Nick giggles as he looks up at his brother.

"Did you know that just by saying, 'Hi Jack' it makes me a 'hi-jack-er'?"

"Truth serum," Mac and Jack say at the same time. It was the only thing that made sense for the man's actions.

"I do not think I am fit to drive, Jackson." Nick groans. "Scratch that, I don't think I'm fit to stand up. Or is it stay standing? Hey, is there a bed somewhere I can borrow? Just give me ten minutes and I'll be fine."

Mac looks to Jack with a mischievous smile, "Anything you want to ask your brother, Jackson?"

"Hey, Nicholas," the brunette says while staring at Mac. "Who really stole the opposing team's mascot when we were in high school?"

"Me," Nick answers with a smile. "Though, mom and dad grounded you for a month because they thought it was you. I felt a little bad about taking your girlfriend to prom. She was pretty and we kissed a lot afterwards."

"Too much information," Riley shakes her head as she starts to walk away. "I'm gonna call Thornton."

"Riley is such a nice girl," Nick sighs. "I understand why you told her mom that-"

Jack lunges for his brother and clamps a hand over his mouth. Riley stops walking away. She turns on her heel and glares at Jack.

"What...Did you tell my mother?"

"Riley, come on," Jack tries to reason with the hacker as she steps closer to him.

"I was under the assumption that you had not been in contact with my mother since you two broke up," Riley remarks, taking the man by the collar of his shirt. "What. Did you tell. My mom, Jackson?!"

Nick laughs from behind his brother's hand.

Riley tries to move her teammate's hand away while Jack struggles to keep one hand on his brother's mouth and the rest of his body in between the hacker and his twin.

Mac sighs as he turns to walk away. Seeing Nick safe had all the tension and worry he was carrying around flooding from his body. He'd let his teammates work things out themselves. 

He was too tired to do it for them.

"JACK!"

"RILEY!"

"Hello~o...My name's Nick...."

 

\---

**Author's Note:**

> Note from the Writer to the Reader:  
> I started this WEEKS before the MacGyver episode "Scissors" (S01E11) aired. I still haven't watched the episode (or the one before it). So, if there's an inconsistency in the short remarks about Riley's mother, just ignore them. Thank you.   
> P.S. I wrote the beginning & the ending at the same time, then came back for the middle. (Just in case you noticed a change. That's the reason why.)
> 
> \---  
> ***I am legally inclined to state I own nothing.***


End file.
